Move showcases human aspect of immigration

Thursday

May 31, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 31, 2007 at 12:41 AM

Dan Loeterman/Daily News correspondent

"Who's it from, Papa?" his daughter demanded.

Filho was just about to tell her, but a nod from the woman behind the table cut him off, and Filho became Gil Santos again. Santos stood in a small room with a directors chair and a video camera, fidgeting.

Behind a table sat writer Karen Webb and producer Dawn Morrissey, making notes. Marcilio Filho is not real, but rather part of Webb's fictional attempt to create conversation about the divisive and polarizing issue of illegal immigration.

Webb, a Hopkinton native, held the last casting call for her film "Green Grass" yesterday. In the film, Filho owns a landscaping company, but after he enters the United States illegally he encroaches on the business of Patrick O'Brien, an Irish American who is also a landscaper.

An angry O'Brien, struggling to pay his bills, wants to fight back, and both men must balance their morals with what is best for their families. The film will be shot in June in Hopkinton and Framingham.

Webb believes that the issue of immigration is much more complex than what politics and the press have made it out to be.

"We wanted to get people to look at it from a human aspect," she said. "When you look at the people (in the film), it's much more complicated."

Later Santos, who is Brazilian, put in his own views on a new federal immigration bill that, if passed, will provide amnesty for immigrants in the United States illegally.

"I think it's great for people who have been here a long time. As long as you come here and you didn't do anything wrong, it's OK (to remain in the country). Can this country survive without the immigrants?" said Santos, who works at the New England Aquarium but is trying to revive his acting career after a rough stint last year in New York.

Webb found out just how divisive the issue can be after "Green Grass" won second place for short screenplay at the prominent Vail Film Festival in Colorado earlier this year.

Having read about her in the newspaper, local anti-immigration groups - she calls them "vigilantes" - sent her information and DVDs showing the groups harassing illegal immigrants in the hope of affecting how the film would be shot.

"They wanted to 'educate' me," Webb said.

Webb has also seen the sticky subject of her film get in the way of fundraising. Company after company has turned down the opportunity to sponsor her film because they don't want to take sides on the issue - and, Webb believes, because they can't guarantee all their workers are legal.

To get around corporate sponsorship, the production team is holding raffles for Red Sox tickets and other events, and will defer payment for some crew members. Webb is not being paid at all until all other funding is secured. And though she has had to dig into her pocketbook more than she would have liked, she believes it is worth it.

"It was almost an experiment, to see if I could get at both sides," she said. "When you boil it down, everyone just wants to do the best thing for their family."

To get more information about "Green Grass" or sponsorship opportunities, visit its Web site at www.greengrassfilm.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.